Infant Vision

Vision and its development is an incredibly important part of a child’s overall development. Unfortunately, its importance is usually overlooked and sometimes ignored. A parent can easily tell if a child’s motor development is behind and the pediatricians test these developmental milestones at the well baby check-up. It is much harder for a parent to tell what their baby sees. The pediatrician generally does not have the equipment to adequately assess the ability of the child to see clearly, to focus, to track and to team his/her eyes together. A Behavioral Optometrist can.

Dr. Diane has been interested in Infant vision for a very long time. She wrote a series for the Optometric Extension Program Assistants journal in the mid 1980’s. It’s a fascinating field of study. It is also an area that behavioral optometry can have a huge impact.

InfantSEE® is a public health program designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an integral part of infant wellness care to improve a child’squality of life. The American Optometric Association (www.aoa.org ) encourages parents to include a trip to the optometrist in the list of well-baby check-ups. Assessments at six to twelve months of age can determine healthy development of vision. Early detection of eye conditions is the best way to ensure your child has healthy vision for successful development—now and in the future. There is NO charge for this assessment and its worth is truly priceless.

The Silent Treatment

One of the main visual problems of young children is “silent.” A parent doesn’t notice an eye turn and usually the child does not complain of a problem. “Lazy eye” or amblyopia can only be detected during a assessment or visual evaluation.

Generally, one of the child’s eyes is far more nearsighted or farsighted than the other. Over time, the brain works hard to ignore that blurred image and shuts off” or suppresses much of the visual input from that eye. Treatment for this condition usually is a combination of glasses and Optometric vision therapy. Therapy can be geared even to the very young child. Regardless of the age of the child (EVEN those older than six or seven), an individual can learn to improve their vision and team their eyes together.

Tell your friends and family with young children to call Dr. Diane for their complimentary InfantSEE® assessment. To read more on InfantSEE®, click here.

To read more on the latest information on Infant Vision from the American Optometic Association, click here .

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